Hi everyone! I'm Rika, a semi-international '28 from Japan, India, and Malaysia. I'm interested in studying women, gender, and sexuality studies, as well as public policy, global health, and biology while also being on the pre-health track! In my free time, I love to read books, cook and bake, play violin, spend time with animals, be sarcastic, and drink hot drinks (especially teas)! I'm so excited to share my exploration of Dartmouth with everyone :)
All Dartmouth students are sorted into one of 6 housing communities that determine our dorms for the time that we live on campus. These housing communities are a wonderful extended family that includes people from different years, as well as head professors and administrators who can serve as mentors. Each house has its own special events and traditions throughout the year that allow the community to bond and boost excitement on campus. I am part of School House (cool house!!), and a new activity we introduced this year is the "School House Cruise," where a group of students can enjoy a few hours on an adorable cruise on Lake Sunapee.
We rode on a yellow school bus—because duh, School House—for about half an hour to reach the absolutely breathtaking lake, which is just 30 miles south (ish) of Hanover. The port was lined with all sorts of boats, small houses, and, of course, red trees, because did I mention? It was also peak foliage when we visited! The sky was clear, but the water was clearer, with wind that made little waves that lapped at the docks. The inside of the boat was set up for a sit-down dinner, with stairs that led up to the open portion of the boat. We were able to enjoy the cool breeze and the gorgeous views of mountains, islands, trees, ducks, and celebrity lake houses, like Ken Burns' and Steve Tyler's!
The Lake Sunapee Port!
Celebrity Lake Houses!
During dinner, I was able to meet and talk to undergraduates, graduate, and PhD students in the School House community. The conversations I held ranged from discussing dining hall food with a fellow '28 to the use of artificial intelligence in neurosurgery with an MD-PhD in his third year of medical school at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. My friends and I spent the last bit of the cruise on the outdoor top floor, watching the sunset, our teeth chattering in between bites of chocolate, strawberry, and lemon cake, all of them very delicious.
The perfect sunset
The cruise was such an amazing way to end week 3, which was a little rough as midterms and essays began to pile up. I was able to see a different part of the Upper Valley and reconnect with nature, and I made some core memories with my friends that we're sure to remember even as we graduate. I continue to be blown away by the dedication Dartmouth has to fostering a community on campus. Here I was, a mere three weeks into classes, enjoying dinner on a picturesque boat ride with students who could be my future roommates. Truly, no one does it quite like Dartmouth.
Starting college is an exciting transition, but it can also come with its share of challenges. Luckily, students have access to a wide range of free mental health resources at Dartmouth, one of which is the Counseling Center.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Greta Richardson '26, an engineering major, showed me around her room in her off-campus apartment, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
I wrote my "Why Dartmouth?" essay a little under two years ago, and I've had a year in-between to fully experience Dartmouth: how I've grown, changed, and how Dartmouth has been a part of all of it.
